Slipping Away
by Queen of Shadows
Summary: Padmé sences Anakin is slipping away from her and towards Palpatine when he ends up leaving the Lake retreat and her early to go to him. This is a stand alone fic. Please R


Padmé Amidala-Skywalker was waking up one morning, extremely early. Since it was so early she expected her husband, Anakin Skywalker, to still be in bed. Padmé rolled over to look at Anakin, but instead of her brown eyes looking to her husband, she saw empty sheets. She sighed and got out of bed; when she stood up she had to steady herself with the bed stand. Her pregnancy was getting harder and harder for her the further along she became. She was dizzy all the time, nauseous, tired and sore. Having to hide a pregnancy and marriage along with being a galactic senator was starting to catch up with her.

Once Padmé was past her dizzy spell she lightly caressed her belly that was covered by her silk, baby blue night gown, and smiled, "You're going to be trouble". 

She turned around to see Anakin standing in the doorway. He was wearing dark brown pants, boots, his utility belt which held his lightsaber and as a shirt he had a couple of layers of different shades of brown and black. Typical Jedi clothes. He was standing there leaning against the frame of the door and smiling towards his wife. Anakin's blue eyes were admiring Padmé. Despite the fact that she now had a big belly and was a bit more crabby, he still thought she was the most beautiful woman in the entire galaxy: truly an angel.

Padmé walked over to Anakin and smiled up at him. She let her hand fall away from her belly as Anakin took it in his own. He wrapped his hand around her smaller one and brought his other one to meet her chin. He put her chin in between his thumb and forefinger and slowly lifted her head up towards him. Padmé stretched up on her tiptoes and Anakin laid a gentle kiss on her lips.

Anakin slowly pulled away from the kiss and Padmé went back to stand on her flat feet. Her brown eyes scanned Anakin up and down and noticed that he was wearing his Jedi clothes, not the clothes that he usually wore when they were at the lake retreat on Naboo. It was his time off where he wasn't on Jedi duty and he usually let the Jedi clothes stay out of sight for that time and wore civilian clothes. But he wasn't wearing civilian clothes right now. No, he was wearing most of his Jedi clothes which could mean only one thing. Anakin was leaving again.

A somewhat sad look made its way across Padmé's face and Anakin picked up on it.

"What's wrong?" He asked with concern in his voice but there was also a hint of confusion. He truly didn't understand why Padmé was so upset.

"You're leaving again," Padmé didn't look up to him when she said that. She kept looking down as she grew even more sad.

Padmé knew that when she married Anakin he would be leaving like this but ever since she became pregnant and Anakin grew closer to Chancellor Palpatine, she'd been taking it harder. Padmé wasn't sure if it was the hormones from being pregnant that made his absence harder or if it was something else, but she didn't like when he left. Especially when he left to go to Palpatine.

"Yeah. Chancellor Palpatine sent for me." Anakin didn't like leaving Padmé but he had to go to the Chancellor. Anakin couldn't deny Palpatine, no matter what.

The fact that Anakin was leaving to go to Palpatine made Padmé not necessarily more sad but more angry. Padmé was one of the Senators who didn't like how Palpatine was ruling the Senate and she didn't like how much of a hold he held on Anakin.

Anakin, being a Jedi, sensed that it was more than him leaving that bothered Padmé.

"What is it?" Anakin asked Padmé in utter confusion as to why she was so upset this time compared to the others.

Padmé's brown eyes rolled up to look into Anakin's blue ones. "It's just..." The Senator paused and took a deep breath. After years of politics she learned that how you say something can be very important and sometimes crucial to how a discussion was going to end. She wanted to say this in a way that didn't sound offensive but she failed, "I don't like your leaving earlier than you have to just so you can go to Palpatine."

Anakin closed the small space that there was between Padmé and himself and once again putting her chin in between his thumb and forefinger. Pulling her head up to look at him he said, "Padmé, I love you. You're the most important thing in the galaxy to me. You're my angel." His Blue eyes sparkled while saying it.

Padmé's lips slowly curved into a smile. "I just don't want you to go. I die inside every time you leave."

Anakin let his hand fall away from her face and he wrapped his arms around her pulling her into a hug. They couldn't touch fully because of Padmé's pregnant belly but they were close enough for it to be very comforting.

"Especially when it's for that man" Padmé said but her words sounded sort of muffled since the side of her face was leaning on Anakin's chest. But you could still hear the disgust in her voice.

Anakin pulled away. "What do you mean by that?"

"It's just, I don't like how he's controlling everything. The senate, this war, you"

Anakin cut her off at that, "He's doing the right thing, Padmé!" He said his words with so much force. "I mean, look at everything he's doing." Anakin was so lost as to why Padmé didn't agree with nor liked Chancellor Palpatine.

"How do we know that all of his intentions are good though? I mean look at how he's manipulated all of this. Almost the entire Senate answers to his beck and call. So do you." Padmé once again turned her brown eyes up to look at her husband.

"Chancellor Palpatine is a good man. He's the only one who as always been there for me!" Anakin said his words with anger sliding into his voice.

Anakin's words flew at Padmé and she flinched back as if she had been struck. "Anakin... Palpatine is not the only one who has been there for you. Obi-Wan has been too. So have I"

Once again Anakin cut her off "Obi-Wan has never been there for me. He never believed in me. Never!" Anger was washing over the Jedi in waves; you could hear it in his voice and it just got worse as the argument went on.

Padmé could see the anger washing over her husband. She slowly and hesitantly walked over to him and touched him lightly on the shoulder. He flinched at her touch but he stayed where he was. Padmé raised her hand up higher and cupped Anakin's face. He then brought his gaze to look at his wife with anger in his eyes, not necessarily directed towards her though. The anger made his baby blue eyes look colder, darker. Padmé stared into those eyes for a moment and then said, "Anakin. It's ok. You still have me. And soon we'll have a family."

Padmé lightly moved her hand from his face and grabbed one of his hands. With her other hand she felt around her swelled belly trying to find the soft kick that she had felt before. She found a faint nudge on her belly and moved Anakin's hand towards the spot where she felt the soft kick. She smiled and looked up to him hoping that this would release some of his anger and make it so that he wouldn't leave her angry.

"Do you feel that?" Padmé kept the smile on her face as she looked onto her Husbands face.

The anger faded away from Anakin's face and a very faint smile crossed his lips. "That's our baby" he breathed.

Padmé nodded slowly, "Yes, that's our baby. And trust me this isn't the first time he has kicked. Nor will it be the last."

Anakin chuckled. Keeping his one hand on Padmé's belly he leaned down and laid a gentle kiss on her lips, which Padmé had to go on her tip toes to receive. Pulling away from the kiss he apologized to his wife and she nodded in understanding. Padmé knew in getting involved with Anakin that his temper would be something she would have to deal with. Anakin's eyes trailed past her and to the time. He realized that he should've left by now. He sighed. "I have"

"To go." Padmé finished his sentence knowing exactly what he was going to say since they had been through this so many times. "I know," Padmé's smile faded away from her face. Anakin grabbed his robe and put it on. Looking back to his wife, he grabbed her hand and they walked out of the room together until they met the water that surrounded the lake retreat. Anakin turned back to Padmé and didn't put an expression on his face, only in his eyes. Padmé could tell by the expression in his eyes that he didn't want to go but he had to.

"Anakin..." Padmé's words trailed off as she stretched on to her tip toes and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him. Anakin hugged back, gripping tightly yet still being careful not too squeeze to hard so he wouldn't put too much pressure on Padmé's belly. Anakin slowly eased away from the hug and Padmé; though not wanting to, she let go of him.

Anakin glanced back at Padmé before getting into the water speeder that he kept there and saw that her eyes were swelling with tears, but he knew that Padmé wouldn't allow to fall. At least not while he was still there. Her hands were on her belly, which was her way of hugging hers and Anakin's un-born child. Anakin still had the same look in his eyes, a look that was filled with love, and said, "I won't be long."


End file.
